Saturday, 1 November 2014

A Point Won

Have to view it
overall as a point won rather than two dropped as at the break we were behind
and looking a bit ragged, especially as their No 11 seemed capable of running
through us at will. No question we’d have taken the draw then. A better second
half, the almost scripted equaliser from Igor just five minutes after he came
off the bench, and we could have gone on to win. Equally, while Wednesday
caused us fewer problems in the second half, they had a fair shout for a
penalty late on (it was their lump of a centre-forward and the ref was closer
to it than me) and may feel that but for one defensive lapse in concentration
they would have left with all three points. So probably a fair result and a competitive,
decent game played for the most part in good spirit.

With Vetokele and
Gudmundsson unable to start, and Bulot in the treatment room, Peeters went for
a sort of 4-3-3, with Tucudean playing alongside Moussa and Ahearne-Grant,
Cousins, Jackson and the returning Buyens in midfield, while the defence picked
itself as Solly and Wiggins were available. It was a set-up that put the
emphasis on fluidity and precision going forward, against defenders who were
always going to win the physical battles. That precision mostly eluded us, with
passes in decent positions often not quite coming off.

The early phases
seemed to be more about us having come out with the wrong studs on as players stumbled
with the ball, creating danger. And we had an early warning of where the danger
might come from as their winger flicked the ball beyond Wiggins and showed him
a clean pair of heels. The cross was cleared but the writing was on the wall.
To be fair to Wiggins, their guy had no problem going past any others that came
up against him. Their lump had a header from a corner that might have been converted,
we had a couple of reasonable shots from around the edge of the box. The first
clear opening came our way as from a corner Cousins found himself unmarked
around the far post with time to line up the header, but he failed to keep it
below the bar.

With Semedo as
competitive in midfield as we remember him the balance of play gradually swung
Wednesday’s way, largely because we were unable to really string things
together in the final third and as their winger just kept causing us problems.
From one run he let loose a venomous shot that went just wide, but the next
time he advanced with the ball and brushed aside challenges he struck the shot
into the bottom corner, giving Henderson no chance, and we were behind.

The final 15 minutes
or so of the first half (which was extended by a lengthy injury break as one of
their guys was stretchered off) saw Wednesday more likely to extend their lead
than us get a leveller. The lump was dealt with well enough by Ben-Haim and
Bikey-Amougou (to the extent that when he realised the latter was challenging
him in the air he focused more on trying to give Bikey an elbow than winning
the ball) but the wingers were another matter. And on the stroke of half-time
they nearly extended their lead in possibly controversial circumstances.
Cousins seemed to be upended around their box but nothing was given (to be fair
to the ref it was right in front of the linesman and he didn’t flag), they
broke and with the ball played on their guy was through on Henderson, only to
put the shot wide. If that one had gone in it would have been a long road back,
whenever Vetekole came on.

Peeters did make a
change at the break, bringing on Gudmundsson for Ahearne-Grant. He had been
threatening but like the other two alongside him had struggled to retain
possession. The change seemed more about giving us better ball retention, which
Gudmundsson was to manage, although there was no real change of formation with
the Icelander operating centrally. And after one glancing header from their
centre-forward early in the second period we generally kept them under better
control, with their wingers increasingly less effective. Perhaps Wednesday sat
back a bit to protect the lead. Either way we began to have more and better
possession and to push them back.

The change we were
all waiting for came with about 20 minutes to go, with Vetokele replacing
Moussa. He didn’t score with his first touch, but it wasn’t far off. The goal
was really laid on a plate by outstanding work down the left by Wiggins. He
wriggled his way through their defenders and as their others around seemed
frozen Igor moved into position to convert the squared ball from around the
penalty spot. It was the sort of chance that we had failed to create in the
first half; Moussa and Ahearne-Grant must have looked on in disbelief. But
there’s a knack to being in the right place at the right time and it’s no
accident that he was there to score.

Then it was a case of
whether either side could get the winner. Wednesday, despite replacing their No
11 for greater solidity (in the form of a rather lardy substitute), did cause
some problems, but so did we. Jackson made a superb run on the blind side and
was picked out by Buyens, only for this cut-back to find nobody. Solly hit one
rasping effort just over the bar and Tucudean made a bit of a hash of a bicycle
kick, only for the ball to bounce up and almost catch out their keeper, who
turned it over the bar. After Wilson had replaced Jackson he put the ball in the
net, but from a position that even hardened Addicks might have accepted was a
tad offside. And the real chance to win the game fell to Vetekole who was
played in but for once the first touch was a bit heavy and he ended up
toe-poking the ball past the keeper but wide of the post.

As the clock ran down
there was the Wednesday penalty appeal. Their centre-forward turned inside in
the box and Bikey took a swing at the ball and missed it, going on to make
contact with the lump. Whether it was a case of him seeing the leg and going
over it or genuine contact made and a foul I couldn’t say, but it looked iffy.
Again, the ref was a good deal closer and saw nothing amiss, so fine by me.

In the end neither
side could make the breakthrough. We deserved something out of the game for the
second half improvement; we dominated possession (helped by Ben Haim and Bikey
taking it forward) and had the better chances. Wednesday will probably look
back on a failure to kill the game off at the end of the first half, and the
penalty appeal. So be it, we move on.

Player Ratings:

Henderson – 7/10. No
chance with the goal and otherwise can’t remember him having to make a serious
save.

Solly – 6/10. Still
looked to me like the body language isn’t great, seemed a bit hangdog. Played
his part in defence but we’re still waiting to see the previous assurance.

Wiggins – 7/10. Has
to get an extra mark for the goal, which he laid on a plate for Vetekole. To
say he was troubled by their winger is, however, an understatement; I suspect
most full-backs would have been.

Ben Haim – 8/10. A
couple of misplaced passes coming out of defence, but solid at the back and was
instrumental in us keeping the pressure on them after the break with some
astute runs forward.

Bikey-Amougou – 7/10.
Still just have to love this guy, but it was a rash challenge in the box which
might have resulted in a penalty.

Cousins – 7/10.
Decent enough game, almost got through a couple of times, but really should
have got that first-half header on target.

Buyens – 7/10.
Effective, peach of a pass to pick out Jackson in the second half.

Jackson – 7/10.
Consistent workrate as ever in a competitive game.

Moussa – 6/10. Plenty
of effort, but an afternoon when he struggled to make a decisive contribution.

Ahearne-Grant – 6/10.
Did look dangerous but collectively the front three in the first half didn’t
gel as well as they might have.

Tucudean – 6/10. As
with the other two. If only his mishit bicycle kick had gone in.

Subs – Gudmundsson (7/10
– instrumental in our better second-half showing, although not surprisingly a
bit rusty); Vetekole (8/10 – we know what a difference he makes to us); Wilson
(7/10 – only on for about 10 minutes).

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

We seem to suffer a lot down the flanks don't we BA. Two obvious examples being Birmingham and Bournemouth. Wiggins and Solly don't seem to be performing too well this season - a coincidence or a bi product of playing a narrow midfield?

Can't criticise Bob's tactical flexibility though. He tries different ways to win games given the opposition and available personnel. And he is happy to mix it during games if isn't going well.

Well PA, their No 11 (I hadn't done any homework on them before the game but have seen the form on him since) would have terrorised any defence. Saw that Peeters said we switched Cousins to provide extra cover in the second half and he was less of a threat, but suspect also he tired.

Going forward down the flanks we do indeed have understandable problems. Solly it seems isn't able to play two games a week so there is rotation, while the full-backs have to have an understanding with those in front of them to bomb forward with confidence (as when Wiggins had Jackson in front of him). Could be just teething problems with a new group of players and injury disruptions, we shall see.